French Reverse or Airplane Straight? Carton Styles Explained.

Industry Insights • Global folding carton packaging market valued at $117B in 2018. View Source • Expected CAGR of 4.4% over 2019–2024 forecast period. View Source • Brand owners and marketers are leaning on packaging to allure consumers more than ever before. • Folding carton products still represent the most important material used for the packaging of goods with roughly 25% of market share.

• US folding carton shipments projected to be $9.65B in 2021. View Source

French Reverse Tuck (also known as Reverse Tuck End) • Style differs from the Standard Reverse Tuck due to its bottom closure attaching in the rear and folding/tucking towards the front of the carton while its top closure is joined in front and folds/tucks towards the rear. The diagram shows a French Reverse Tuck carton with a slit (pie) lock bottom (more secure) and a friction lock top closure (easy to open and re-close). This style has a polished, finished look which enhances graphic design capabilities. Additional available closure styles include a friction lock for top and bottom and the slit jock for top and bottom. Able to set up fast and easy without tape or glue. • Usages: Custom food, medical, pharmaceutical packaging, retail, software boxes, and toy boxes. • Pros: Cost effective, easy assembly, compact storing, works for light packaging. • Cons: Not good for heavy products, raw edges on front of box.

Airplane Style Straight Tuck (also known as Straight Tuck End) • Style features closure panels on both the bottom and top that hinge from the rear and tuck in the front. • Usages: Custom beverage, cosmetic, food, medical, pharmaceutical packaging, retail, software, and toy boxes. • Pros: Clean edges, easy assembly, compact storing, works well for light packages. • Cons: More expensive, manufactures less boxes at one time per paperboard sheet.

1 Full Seal End (also known as Full Overlap Seal End (FOSE), Seal End) • This carton is normally assembled, filled and sealed on automatic, horizontal or vertical packaging equipment. The usual sequence for closure, as shown, is dust flaps in first, followed by the inner closure panels (hinging in from the rear panel) and finally the outer closure panels (hinging from the front panel). If sift-resistance is needed, the inner closure panels are often tucked down first, with the dust flaps next and the outer closure panels last. • Usages: Custom food, medical, and retail boxes.

Straight Tuck End with Hang Tab • The STE with hang tab carton is ideal for small, light products. It excels by doubling as a point of purchase display to be placed on a peg. • Usages: Custom cosmetic, medical, and retail boxes.

Straight Tuck End with Side Hang Tab • Same as above, but hang tab on side.

Rectangular Sleeve • The pre-glued sleeve has a simple, tubular construction. It often functions as a decorative slip-on cover, offering protection in the combination of a tray and sleeve. This style frequently is used as the basic structure for many high-end multi-packaging systems. Rectangular sleeve cartons can utilize locked-side or glued seams. • Usage: A decorative or protective cover for underlying structures, products or cartons.

Auto-Lock Bottom • Tuck top auto-lock bottom cartons are delivered to the customer with the composite bottom panel folded and glued. The top flap is tucked and held in by friction or locked in securely with shore locks. It is already set up and ready to use when unfolded. • Style variations include the “Himes Lock” for quick set up on small production runs not involving auto-pack equipment. • The “Full Flap” style holds heavier contents, also for smaller volumes favoring quick set ups not involving auto-pack equipment. • Variations include the “Houghland Snap Lock” bottom closure and the “Infold” auto-bottom closure.

Edge Lock • The Edge Lock style carton is typically formed, filled and sealed automatically on horizontal cartoning equipment. Can be erected and closed by hand. Frequently tightly nested to minimize board stock usage. The Edge Lock is the preferred style for frozen prepared foods.

2 Carrier Box • Features a Gable Top with an auto-lock bottom. • Provides a convenient carrying handle. • Quick and easy to erect and close, by hand. • Style features lots of real estate for design content and attracts lots of attention. • Usages: Custom food, fast food, bakery and candy boxes as well as custom cosmetic boxes.

Lift Top (also known as Tray Style Carton, Roll-End Tray with Locking Cover) • Styles include friction lock flaps, tab lock and glued seal. • Tray style with a glued, hinged lip is designed to erect and fill on automated, high-speed machinery. • The extra long flap on the lid panel of the friction lock style makes this structure sturdy, sealing well. Often comes with double side wall locking in position slots on bottom panel. • Common uses incorporate sturdy E-flute or corrugated substrate. Ideal for shipping purposes. • Usages: Bakery items, cookies/snacks, frozen meals, Electronics, gift item sets and others.

Standard Straight Tuck • This style is well suited for products requiring a large window in its front display panel. With fold/tuck closures in the back, exposing the raw edges at both ends of the primary display panel are avoided. • Prevents any potential interference between the tuck and the window film material, which could occur with a reverse tuck style. • This carton is suitable for hand assembling, as well as automated assembly and closing applications.

Partial Overlap Seal End (POSE) • In contrast to the Full Overlap Seal End (FOSE) which has full width major closure panels, the POSE major closure panels are just wide enough (as shown) to permit a proper overlap for gluing. • The outer top closure panel’s lock tab is generally nested in the adjacent carton’s outer closure panel to optimize board stock usage. • Usages: Dry cereal and granola cartons, breakfast bar cartons, fruit snack packet cartons and various other pouch-in-box applications.

Economy Overlap Seal End (EOSE) • This style combines both the graphic advantage offered by the FOSE with some of the economic advantages of the more compact POSE blank. The carton can be reverse-nested in production. It can be nested straight back by reversing the positions of the bottom inner and major outer panels.

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